Machine for making wire staples.



C. E. SAFFORD. MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE STAPLES.

APPLICATION FILED on. 30, 1911.

Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

s SHEETS-SHEET .1.

T f (iJW THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 120., WASHINGTON, D- C- C. E. SAFFORD.

MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE STAPLES.

APPLICATION. FILED OCT. 30, 1911..

l, I'YQG'YGI Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

6 SHEETSSHEET 2- Guam/mu:

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH ,C0-, WASHINGTON, D. C.

C. E., SAFFORD.

MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE STAPLES.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 30. 1911.

1,170,676. Patented Feb. 8,1916.

6 SHEETS--SHEET 3.

THE COLUMBIA I MNOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON, D. c.

C. E. SAFFORD. MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE STAPLES.

' APPLICATION FILED, OCT. 30, 1911.

Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

6 SHEETSSHEET 4 z w W 0 M a THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0., WASHINGTON, D.c.

C. E. SAFFORD.

MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE STAPLES.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-30,1911.

Patented Feb. 8. M916.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

gwuemtoz' THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPii co., WASHINGTON, D- c.

c. E. SAFFORD.

MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE STAPLES.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 30, 1911.

1,170,676. Patented Feb.8,1916.

6 SHEETSSHEET 5.

in the claims.

CLARENCE E. SAFFOR'D, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE STAPLES.

Application filed. October 30, 1911.

scription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to machines for making wire staples for use intying together the crossed strands of a wire fabric or fencing, and theinvention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts morefully set forth and pointed out particularly The object of the inventionis to provide simple and eflicient means for quickly manuthe form ofstaples desired .The above object is attained by the mechanismillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in .which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying my invention, themain driving shaft appearing in transverse section. Fig. 2 is a sideelevation opposite to that shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of themachine. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in section showing the train ofgearing employed in driving the several operative parts of the machine,one of the vertical shafts and its gear being omitted. Fig. 5 is afragmentary view in elevation of said train of gearing, the verticalshaft omitted from Fig. 4: being in place. Fig. 6 is an enlargedfragmentary view of a portion of the horizontally disposed disks betweenwhose faces the strand wire is formed into a series of opposedtransverse bends. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view in elevation of thecutting Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

Serial No. 657,483.

disks between whose faces the bent stay is Fig. 9 is an elevation of oneof the disks in whose peripheries are set the cutting disks whichpartially sever the strand from which the staples are formed. Fig. 10 isan enlarged fragmentary view in section through a portion of theperipheries of the staple forming disks showing the yokes whichdischarge the staples from the ,forming members of said disks. Fig. 11is an elevation of a cam ring showing therein one of the cam ways whichactuate said dis-" charging yokes. Fig. 12 is a plan view of the strandfrom which the staples are formed, showing the transverse bends thereinand the strand partially severed between said bends. Fig. 13 is aperspective view of one of the formed staples. Fig. 14 is an elevationof the dies between which the strand is partially severed. Fig. 15 is asectional view as on line 1515 of Fig. 1 1.

Referring to the characters of reference, 1 designates the frame of themachine in which is journaled the main driving shaft 2, having on theend thereof a driving pulley 3 adapted to be driven from any suitablesource of power. Upon shaft 2 is a spiral gear 4 which meshes with alike gear 5 on the vertical shaft 6. Upon said shaft 6, below the spiralgear thereon, is a spur gear 7 which mesheswith a like gear 8 on avertical shaft 9, said shafts 6 and 9 being disi posed in parallelismand being connected by the gears 7 and 8 are caused to turn in unison inopposite directions. Upon the upper ends of the shafts 6 and 9 are thebending disks 10 and 11 respectively. These disks are disposedhorizontally and their peripheries are provided with alternating teeth12 and depressions 13. The teeth of one disk are adapted to enter thedepressions in the other disk as said disks revolve, so that the strand1 1, from which the staples are formed and which is fed between saiddisks, is provided with a series of lateral bends 15 connected bytransverse portions 17, as clearly shown in Fig. 6, the alternatestraight longitudinal portion of the bent strand being ofiset, asclearly shown in Fig. 12.

From the bending disks the bent strand passes to the cutting disks 18and 19 re- :stap-les is completed. staple forming members on theperipheries .er said disks can better be understood by reference to Fig.8, wherein it will be seen spectively, which are disposed in verticalalinement, and are mounted upon the horizontal shafts 20 and 21respectively. Shafts 20 and 21 are suitably journaled 1n the frame andare driven from a gear 22 on the main shaft 2 which meshes with a gear23 on shaft 20. On the shaft 21 is a gear 2 1 which meshes with the gear23. By this arrangement the shafts 20 and 21 are driven so as to revolvein opposite directions in unison. Set in the peripheries of the cuttingdisks are projecting dies 25 and 26 respectively, having cooperatingcutting members 27, which, as the cutting disks revolve, aresuccessively brought into operative relation in pairs to act upon thebent strand which passes between the faces thereof. Centrally disposedwith respect to each ofthe cutting members 27 of said dies is a curvedcutting edge 28, which, as the cutting members of a pair of dies arebrought into operative relation by rotation of the cutting disks,operate to partially sever the strand near the center of each of thetransverse portions 16 thereof, as clearly shown The bent strand is sofed to the cutting dies that each of thetransverse portions 16 thereinwill extend across the faces of the cutting disks and lie between thecutting members 27 of the dies therein so that the partial severing willoccur at the transverse portlon thereof as said dies come together. Itwill be noted on referring to Fig. 9 that the dies are arrangedstaggeringly in the peripheries of the cutting disks, the purpose ofwhich is to cause them to so cut the bent strand as to leave the stapleswhen formed with one leg thereof longer than the other, as clearly shownin Fig. 13, to give a greater length to the leg of the staple whichcrosses the strand wire of the fabric farthest from the stay wire whensaid staple is formed into a tie to join together the crossed strands ofa wire fabric,

as will be well understood in the art.

From the cutting disks the bent and partially severed strand passes tothe staple forming disks 30 and 31 by j which the staples aresuccessively seized and broken "from the remaining strand and betweenwhose faces the operation of forming the The shape of the that each ofthe staple forming disks is provided on its periphery with a plurality-of projecting jaw members 32, between which is a curved recess 33adapted to re- -ceive the loop of the staple as it is being formed, andwith interposed shaping mem bers 34 adapted to enter the recess in theopposed disk to carry the staples thereinto and give the required shapethereto. These jaws and shaping members are adapted to as shown in Fig.

action of the shaping members, which force the loop of the staple intothe recess between the jaws, will place such a strain upon the strand atthe points where it is partially severed as to cause the bent portionsfrom which the staples are formed to separate. The trough in which thestrand slides from the cutting to the final bending mechanism is coveredfor the most part as indicated at in Fig. 8, and it will be understoodthat the staples, as they are successively seized A by the members 3231, are bent about the end of the trough and snapped from the remainingstrip. Because of the fact that each bend or loop in the strandwhichforms a staple is provided with laterally extend ing terminals eachstaple, when forced into the recess, between the jaws by the shapingmembers, will comprise a loop portion and legs whose terminals 36 and 37project from the loop portion at an angle thereto, as-

clearly shown in Fig. 13. Tie staple forming disks are mounted upon theshafts 38 and 39 respectively vhich are journaled in p the frame inparallelism, and which are driven through themedium of a gear 10 onshaft 38 which meshes with the gear 22 on shaft 2, and with a gear 411onshaft 39,

causes the shafts 38 and 39 to rotate in opposite directions at the samerate of speed.

To provide for discharging the sta'iles from the shaping members 341 andfrom be tween the jaws 32 after they have been formed, there areemployed a plurality of yokes 12 which embrace the peripheries of thestaple forming disks, one set of yokes lying within the recess 33, andthe other set embracing the staple shaping members 34;. Movement isimparted to said yokes for the purpose of ejecting are formed in theinner faces of the cam rings 4 1, which are fixed upon the oppositesides of the staple forming disks, as shown in Figs, 3 and 10. Theterminals of said yokes, which lie in radial channels in the sides ofthe staple forming disks, are provided with the journal pins 415, onwhich are journaled antifriction rollers 46 which said staples throughthe 7 medium of cam ways 43 (see Flg. 11) which 4, an arrangement whichtravel in the cam ways 43 of the camrings.

The disposition of the cam rings is such that after the staples havebeen formed between the peripheries of the staple forming disks afurther rotation of said disks will cause the antifriction rollers ofthe ejecting yokes to ride over the high points 17 (see Fig. 11)

in the camways and project the yokes outwardly, as shown in Fig. 8,which operation discharges the formed staples either from the shapingmembers 3 or from the recess between the jaws 32, accordingly as thestaples may remain uponsaid shaping members or within said jaws as saidparts are separated through the rotation of the staple forming disks.The discharged staples drop into asuitable hopper 48 (see Fig. 1.) fromwhich they feed onto an inclined distributing track 49. The lower end ofthe track 149 rests upon a circle bar 50, from which lead a plurality ofradial tracks 51 communicating at their lower end with the wire fabricmachine, not shown. The track a9 is suliiciently flexible to enable thelower end thereof to be swung in the arc of a circle, as shown by dottedlines in Fig. 3, whereby the formed staples which slide downwardlythereon may be directed onto any one of. the radial tracks 51 for thepurpose of distributing the staples to their several points of use inthe fabric machine.

The journaled boxes 52 and 53, of the shafts 38 and 39 respectively, areheld separated by the tension of the coiled springs 55% interposedtherebetween, as shown in Fig. 2. Engaging the upper bearing box 53 arethe adjusting screws whereby said box may be adjusted so as to properlyregulate the space between the staple forming disks.

In like manner the slidable boxes 56 and 57 of the shafts 20 and 21respectively held separated by the short interposed coil springs 58, asalso shown in Fig. 2. Engaging the upper boxes 57 are the adjustingscrews 59 whereby said boxes may be adjusted to regulate the spacebetween the peripheries of the cutting disks carried on said shafts 20and 21. An adjusting screw 60 coiperating with the upper bearing ofverticalshaft 6 enables the bending disk 10 to be adjusted with respectto the opposed disk 13 to properly regulate the distance between thecooperating members thereon which serve toplace the lateral bends in thestrand 14:.

It will be noted on referring to Fig. 12 that the operation of thecutting dies when closed upon the strand form partially rounded ends atthe terminals of the legs of the staples, which facilitates theirentrance into the shaping dies of the fabric machine and relieves saiddies from undue wear.

Having thus fully set forth my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is a 1. A staple machine comprising meansfor continuously feeding a strand, means traveling with said strand forforming lateral bends therein from which the staples are made, means forcutting said strand between said lateral bends, and means moving withthe strand for forming the bent portions of the strand between saidpoints of cutting into staples having angular legs.

2. A staple machine comprising means for feeding a strand into themachine, means for severing said strand into portions of predeterminedlengths, and rotatable staple forming disks having cooperating jaws andshaping members adapted to form the severed portions of the strand intoloops as said disks revolve.

3. A staple machine comprising means for feeding astrand into themachine, means for severing said strand into portions of predeterminedlengths, rotatable staple forming disks having cooperating jaws andshaping members adapted to form the severed portions of the strand intoloops as said disks revolve, and means carried by said disks fordischarging the formed staples from the staple forming members.

at. A staple machine comprising means for continuously feedinga strand,means moving with the strand for forming therein opposed lateral bendsconnected by transversely disposed portions and longitudinally extendingportions, means traveling with the strand for cutting the transverselydisposed portions of said strand between said bends, and means forengaging the straight longitudinal portions of the strand and formingthem into staples the legs of which have angular terminals.

5. A staple machine comprising means for bending a strand laterally toform transversely disposed portions connected by straight longitudinalportions, rotatable cutting disks between which the bent strand passes,dies in said disks for partially severing said strand through thetransverse portions thereof, staple forming disks having jaw members,and cooperating shaping memhers, said shaping members engaging thestraight portions of the strand between said lateral bends and forcingthem between the jaw members to form them into loops as said disksrevolve.

6. A staple machine comprising means for continuously feeding a strand,means for cutting said strand into portions of predetel-mined lengths,jaw members moving with the strand and cooperating shaping members forforming said severed port-ions into staples, ejecting yokes fordischarging the formed staples, and cam ways for actuating said yokes.

7. A staple machine comprising cutters for partially severing the strandinto portions of predetermined lengths and rounding the ends of thepartially severed portions, jaw members, and cooperating shaping membersfor separating said portions at their partially severed points andforming the separated lengths into staples whose legs have rounded ends.

projection 8. Astaple machine comprising means for continuously feedinga strand, means for forming lateral bends therein from which the staplesare made, meansfor cutting said strand between the lateral bends, andmeans for forming the bent portions of the strand between said points ofcutting into staples having angular legs.

9. A staple machine comprising means for continuously feeding astrand,means traveling with the strand for forming lateral bends thereinfrom which the staples are made,'nieans for cutting said strand betweensaid lateral bends, and means forforming the bent portions of the strandbetween said points of cutting into staples having angular legs.

10. A staple machine comprising means for continuously feeding a strand,means for forming lateral bends therein from which the staples are made,means moving with the strand for cutting said strand between the lateralbends, and means for forming the bent portions of the strand betweensaid points of cutting into staples having angular legs.

11. A staple machine comprising means for feeding a strand into themachine, means for severing said strand into portions of predeterminedlength, andapair of rotatable staple-forming members, one having a andthe other a depression which the projection enters as the membersrotate, whereby a severed portion of the strand is formed into a loop.

12. A; staple machine comprising means for feeding a strand. into themachine, means for severing said strand into portions of predeterminedlength, a pair of rotatable staple-forming members one having aprojection and the other a depression which the projection enters as themembers rotate, whereby a severed portion of the strand is formed into aloop, and means for imparting rotation to the rotatable members at equalspeeds but in opposite directions.

13. A staple machine comprising means for feeding a strand into themachine, means movable in one plane for forming lateral bends in thestrand, means for cutting the strand between the lateral bends, andmeans movable in a plane at an angle to the firstmentioned plane forthereafter bending the intermediate portion of the strand between thepoints of cutting at an angle to the plane of the lateral bends.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for 14. A staple machinecomprising means strand between the lateral bends, said lastmentioneddisks being arranged in a plane at right angles to the first mentioneddisks,

and rotatable disks mounted in aplane at an angle to the first-mentioneddisks for thereafter bending the intermediate portion of the strandbetween the pointsof cutting at an angle to the plane of the lateralbends.

16. A staple machine comprising means for feeding a strand into themachine, a

pair of rotatable disks for formi g lateral bends in the strand,resilient means tending to hold the dlsks apart, means for ad ustmg thedisks toward each other against the force of theresilient means, meansfor cut ting the strand between the lateral bends, and a pair ofrotatable.disks'mounted in a plane at an angle to the first-mentioneddisks for thereafter bending the intermediate portion of the strandbetween the points of cutting at an angle to the plane ofthe lateralbends.

17. A staple'forming machine comprising means for feeding a strandintothe machine, rotatable disks for forming lateral bends in the strand, apair of rotatable disks for cutting the strand between the lateralbends, resilient means tending to hold the lastmentioned disks apart,means for adjusting the last-mentioned disks toward eachother againstthe force of the resilient means, "and rotatable disks mounted in aplane at an angle to the first-mentioned disks for thereafter bendingthe intermediate portion of the strand between the points of cutting atan angle to the plane of the lateral bends.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

CLARENCE E. SAFFORD. Witnesses J; O'rro BAENZIGER, M. E. BROESAMLE.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington,D. C.

